Individual vs. Person — What's the Difference?

An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own needs or goals, rights and responsibilities.

A human being as an individual.

A single, distinct entity.

A character or role, as in a play or story.

Intended or designed for one person.

An individual's character or nature.

Existing as an indivisible entity.

A human or organization with legal rights and duties.

Single; separate

A person (plural people or persons) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, or legal responsibility. The defining features of personhood and, consequently, what makes a person count as a person, differ widely among cultures and contexts.In addition to the question of personhood, of what makes a being count as a person to begin with, there are further questions about personal identity and self: both about what makes any particular person that particular person instead of another, and about what makes a person at one time the same person as they were or will be at another time despite any intervening changes.

Of or for a particular person

A living human. Often used in combination

A single human being as distinct from a group

An individual of specified character

Of or relating to an individual, especially a single human

The composite of characteristics that make up an individual personality; the self.

By or for one person

The living body of a human

Existing as a distinct entity; separate

Physique and general appearance.

Marked by or expressing individuality; distinctive or individualistic

(Law) A human, corporation, organization, partnership, association, or other entity deemed or construed to be governed by a particular law.

Special; particular

(Christianity) Any of the three separate individualities of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as distinguished from the essence of the Godhead that unites them.

Serving to identify or set apart

Any of three groups of pronoun forms with corresponding verb inflections that distinguish the speaker (first person), the individual addressed (second person), and the individual or thing spoken of (third person).

A single human considered apart from a society or community

Any of the different forms or inflections expressing these distinctions.

A human regarded as a distinctive or unique personality

A character or role, as in a play; a guise

A single organism as distinguished from a species, community, or group.

An individual substance of a rational nature; usually a human being.

A member of a collection or set; a specimen.

A character or part, as in a play; a specific kind or manifestation of individual character, whether in real life, or in literary or dramatic representation; an assumed character.

A person considered alone, rather than as belonging to a group of people.

(Christianity) Any one of the three hypostases of the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit.

(legal) A single physical human being as a legal subject, as opposed to a legal person such as a corporation.

Any sentient or socially intelligent being.

An object, be it a thing or an agent, as contrasted to a class.

(in a compound noun or noun phrase) Someone who likes or has an affinity for (a specified thing).

(statistics) An element belonging to a population.

(in a compound noun or noun phrase) A human of unspecified gender (in terms usually constructed with man or woman).

Relating to a single person or thing as opposed to more than one.

(in a compound noun or noun phrase) A worker in a specified function or specialty.

Intended for a single person as opposed to more than one person.

The physical body of a being seen as distinct from the mind, character, etc.

Not divisible without losing its identity.

(law) Any individual or formal organization with standing before the courts.

Not divided, or not to be divided; existing as one entity, or distinct being or object; single; one; as, an individual man, animal, or city.

The human genitalia; specifically, the penis.

Of or pertaining to one only; peculiar to, or characteristic of, a single person or thing; distinctive; as, individual traits of character; individual exertions; individual peculiarities.

(grammar) A linguistic category used to distinguish between the speaker of an utterance and those to whom or about whom they are speaking. See grammatical person.

A single person, animal, or thing of any kind; a thing or being incapable of separation or division, without losing its identity; especially, a human being; a person.

(biology) A shoot or bud of a plant; a polyp or zooid of the compound Hydrozoa, Anthozoa, etc.; also, an individual, in the narrowest sense, among the higher animals.

An independent, or partially independent, zooid of a compound animal.

To represent as a person; to personify; to impersonate.

A human being;

To man, to supply with staff or crew.

A single organism

A character or part, as in a play; a specific kind or manifestation of individual character, whether in real life, or in literary or dramatic representation; an assumed character.

Being or characteristic of a single thing or person;

The bodily form of a human being; body; outward appearance; as, of comely person.

Separate and distinct from others of the same kind;

A living, self-conscious being, as distinct from an animal or a thing; a moral agent; a human being; a man, woman, or child.

Characteristic of or meant for a single person or thing;

A human being spoken of indefinitely; one; a man; as, any person present.

Concerning one person exclusively;

A parson; the parish priest.

A person distinct from others, often emphasizing unique characteristics.

Among Trinitarians, one of the three subdivisions of the Godhead (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost); an hypostasis.

Concerning or characterized by distinctiveness or differentiation.

One of three relations or conditions (that of speaking, that of being spoken to, and that of being spoken of) pertaining to a noun or a pronoun, and thence also to the verb of which it may be the subject.

A shoot or bud of a plant; a polyp or zooid of the compound Hydrozoa Anthozoa, etc.; also, an individual, in the narrowest sense, among the higher animals.

To represent as a person; to personify; to impersonate.

A human being;

A person's body (usually including their clothing);

A grammatical category of pronouns and verb forms;

An individual's body or physical presence.

Yes, "individual" can refer to both humans and entities like corporations in legal contexts.

Not always, but it's often used in formal contexts.

Yes, every person is an individual.

Primarily, yes, but legally it can also refer to entities with human-like rights, like corporations.

Yes, "individual" can emphasize the idea of being distinct or unique.

Often they can, but context matters as their nuances differ.

"Distinct" or "particular" can be synonyms in this context.

Rarely in everyday language, but in legal contexts, it can include non-human entities.

Yes, when emphasizing human characteristics, identity, or rights, "person" is more apt.

Yes, "individual" can refer to non-human entities like objects or concepts.

A juridical person is an entity, like a corporation, treated in law as having rights similar to a human.

Yes, for example, "individual preferences" or "individual traits."

"Human being" or "individual" can be synonyms in this context.

The plural form is "persons" or more commonly "people."

The plural form is "individuals."